Best PlacesMiddlesboro, KY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Middlesboro, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Middlesboro ranks 46,224th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and the cost of living against local pay is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Middlesboro
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
Middlesboro's strengths and weaknesses
Where Middlesboro ranks high
- Cheap childcare$461 a month, better than 97% of towns
- Short commute17.0 minutes each way, better than 95% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 93% of towns
- BikingBetter than 80% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 74% of towns
Where Middlesboro ranks low
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Household income$33,417 median, better than only 3% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 3% of towns
- School gradeD, better than only 9% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Middlesboro
A household needs to earn about $28,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Middlesboro home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $33,417, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Middlesboro's effective rate of 0.57%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Middlesboro
Middlesboro's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Middlesboro.
Who works in Middlesboro, and how
Work in Middlesboro centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in Middlesboro
Middlesboro has more restaurants and bars per resident than 93% of towns and more parkland per resident than 86% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Middlesboro and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Middlesboro, month by month
Middlesboro sees roughly 74 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 46, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 46° | 36° | 29° |
| April | 71° | 57° | 45° |
| July | 88° | 75° | 67° |
| October | 72° | 58° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Middlesboro
The nearest airport, McGhee Tyson, is about 58 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Nashville International, about 168 miles away.
The best schools in and around Middlesboro
Schools across Middlesboro average a D, better than 9% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Yellow Creek School CenterC− · 29% proficient
- Page School CenterC− · 28% proficient
- Middlesboro Elementary SchoolD · 18% proficient
Top middle schools
- Middlesboro Middle SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
Top high schools
- Bell County High SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Middlesboro High SchoolD− · 13% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Middlesboro school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Middlesboro measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Middlesboro against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Middlesboro
Is Middlesboro a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Middlesboro ranks 46,224th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, short commutes, and walkability, and lowest on the cost of living against local pay and thin health care access. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Middlesboro expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $108,993. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $33,417 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Middlesboro safe?
Middlesboro is safer than 29% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $348 per resident a year.
Compare Middlesboro with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Middlesboro. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Middlesboro represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Middlesboro detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Middlesboro: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Middlesboro: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Middlesboro: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Middlesboro: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Middlesboro detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.